Why all the Focus on Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial Intelligence means Intelligence for machines. The effort to make better and more efficient technology has been going on since the moment we discovered electricity. We have always thought of creating better and more amazing machines.

Creating machines that can process faster and more accurate than humans could ever do is no longer enough. We need better machines, smarter machines. How do we do that? By making them artificially intelligent. By devising, some way that would enable the machines so, they could 'think' for themselves, without any human intervention. That is what Artificial Intelligence is, and it's flooding the markets like an epidemic. Doubtful? Take a look at what the experts think

Believe in the saying 'There is strength in numbers?' Well, AI does. AI did not progress on its own. Initially when it was just AI, or now termed as 'Narrow AI' we accomplished specific tasks that were as good as humans or better. Things like facial recognition on Facebook or cataloging images, done by Pinterest. With the help of Machine Learning and Deep learning, we might be able to bridge reality and fiction.

I visualize a time when we will be to robots what dogs are to humans, and I'm rooting for the machines - Claude Shanon.

Machine Learning, ML, and Deep Leaning, DL, is not so much different from AI. They are just more advanced techniques of achieving AI. Machine learning is basically, parsing data and reading it through a set of algorithms and learning something about the world. That beats hard-coding specific tasks for the machine. This way the machine LEARNS to perform a given function instead of some programmer 'hard-coding 'it. ML allowed performing more valuable and accurate tasks.

ML dominated computer vision for quite some time. But the level of accuracy and errors wasn't impressive. For instance, reading a board sign saying 'S-T-O-P' was great, but only in clear weather and no obscuring objects in between.

Don't give up yet, after machine learning came Deep Learning. In our quest to machine-travel as close as possible to the human brains, Deep learning brought us, Neural Networks. They are inspired by the biology of a human brain. Working in layers and layers of neurons.

By far this is the most powerful and accurate AI technique. HOW?

By Deep Learning we got an 88% chance of reading the 'S-T-O-P' sign right, even with having a foggy weather or some other noise factors. Those are pretty incredible odds!

Harry Lee, CEO at CitrusBits, a Mobile App Development company in Californiasaid:"I see the future of mobile app development thrive even more than it already is because of AI and the advancements we have experienced lately. Techniques like Deep Learning are key to solving the mysteries of creating Human-level Intelligent and smarter Apps."

You feeling the Hype yet?

The overall research goal of artificial intelligence is to create technology that allows computers and machines to function intelligently. There was a time when AI was on the back bench, but after Deep Learning AI has started to attract a lot of attention.

All the Leviathans of IT and corporate world are pooling in on AI.

Companies are investing in AI, Developing in AI, Acquiring AI pretty much anything with the word AI; organizations are doing it.

In the recent Developer's Festival, Google I/O 2017, Google announced they were going 'AI-First.' That is a major change. They are rethinking all their products with an 'AI perspective.'

Sending emails is even more convenient now; because Gmail can now suggest replies based on your conversations. Check out the new program Google lens, which can remove objects that block a perfect shot. How cool is that?

Google even introduced a new Tensor processing unit, TPU, which is built solely for processing data for AI.

Now you understand why Google, Facebook, and other similar organizations have been collecting data all those years. The quality of AI depends fundamentally on the quality of data collected!

The principal analyst at Moor Insight and Strategies, Patrick Moorhead, commented, 'I think right now, Google has the richest AI capabilities for their consumers. Their clouds are full of tons and tons of personal information and thus can process better'.

That does raise some concern at how much hold these companies, especially Google, would have over our personal lives, but as long as the quality of life keeps improving, all is well.

It's not just Google who has planted all its tomatoes in the AI garden, Microsoft with their top-notch AI APIs and Face book, with their own AI-world, aren't far.

Even our Chinese investors are focusing significant investments on AI-focused startups. The Chinese government is aiming to see the country’s AI industry grow by promising an investment of 15 billion dollars by the year 2018.

That gets you wondering and betting on the AI farm because there are limitless possibilities. AI is not just restricted to the IT world; it's has its roots growing in Healthcare, Finance, Transportation, Customer Services, Manufacturing even Farming and so much more.

So, I think it is safe to assume that AI holds our future in a solid grasp. It is going to dominate all areas of life. Better start getting ready for an all-out AI attack on our industry. All major organizations and companies recognize the golden opportunity to invest in AI and so should you!